Tourism | International visitor arrivals grew 6.2 percent last year

MGTO director Helena de Senna Fernandes (right) at yesterday’s press conference

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) held its annual press conference yesterday. In it, the bureau announced that international visitor arrivals grew by 6.2 percent year-on-year, attaining a new record high. This demographic accounted for nearly 10 percent of total visitor arrivals in 2017.

Total visitor arrivals to Macau topped 32.6 million in 2017, up 5.4 percent from the year before, according to preliminary figures.

Overnight-stay visitors also surged year-on-year by almost 10 percent, accounting for 52.9 percent of total visitor arrivals with a year-on-year increase of 2.2 percentage points, breaking the record in terms of both the overall quantity, as well as the proportion of total visitors.

The preliminary data show that overnight-stay visitor arrivals exceeded same-day visitor arrivals last year, which is part of a trend that has lasted for 10 consecutive months since last March.

The average length of stay stood at 2.1 days for overnight-
stay visitors and 1.2 days for all visitors.

Over 29.4 million visitors came from the Greater China markets, an increase of 5.3 percent.

Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan stood as Macau’s top three visitor source markets. The city welcomed over 20 million mainland visitors last year, up by 8.5 percent, with 41 percent of the visitors from Guangdong province.

The figure includes over 10 million visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme, which constitutes 47.8 percent of mainland visitor arrivals.

Visitor arrivals from Hong Kong and Taiwan dropped by 4 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

Among international markets, South Korea continued to rank first in terms of the origin of visitors, contributing over 870,000 visitors to Macau with robust growth of 32 percent in 2017. Japanese visitor arrivals climbed 9.4 percent, whereas the figures of visitors from the Philippines and Indonesia rose by 7 percent and 8 percent respectively.

The average occupancy rate of hotel establishments in Macau in 2017 exceeded 88 percent, a year-on-year increase of more than 5 percentage points.

The average room rate of three- to five-star hotels last year was USD160.3, down by 0.2 percent.

At the end of 2017, there were 116 hotel establishments in Macau supplying a total of 37,901 rooms; a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percent.

The number includes 49 budget accommodation establishments with a total of 1,736 rooms.

Total visitor expenditure between January and September 2017 amounted to $25.7 billion, according to MGTO, marking 16.1 percent growth compared to the same period in 2016.

Throughout the year, MGTO conducted over 2,100 inspections of business establishments and over 1,600 inspections at ports of entry and tourist attractions, as well as random inspections on 128 tour groups. For measures against the provision of illegal accommodation, the Office carried out 1,386 apartment inspections and sealed 270 apartments, in 490 joint actions of the interdepartmental task force. JZ

Macao Year of Gastronomy launched

Yesterday, following the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) annual press conference, the 2018 Macao Year of Gastronomy was officially launched at Sai Van Lake Square.

An array of projects will be held in order to preserve and revive the city’s cultural legacy with elements of gastronomy taking center stage.

The aim of this initiative is to forge Macau into a City of Gastronomy that has unique charm and creativity, while marching toward sustainable development and far-reaching international collaboration.

Regarding the event’s advertising, MGTO Director Helena de Senna Fernandes said “the Macao Year of Gastronomy is not just promoting the food Macau has to offer, what kind of restaurants Macau has, or even what events happen in Macau. It is actually promoting the label of UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in order to let people know about it.”

She also pledged that the Macau government will not only promote high-end services, but will also promote local places.

“Besides the promotion, Macau will engage in other cooperative activities with the neighboring regions or with international parties,” said de Senna Fernandes.

Following the designation of Macau as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, MGTO launched the “Macao Year of Gastronomy” to promote Macau’s gastronomic cultural image. The bureau has additionally organized and supported international events that relate to gastronomy, such as the International Gastronomy Forum and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018, while enhancing communication with members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.